7 replies to this topic

[XX Sulla XX]

No idea what part of the forum to put this so for now it goes here where I am sure it does not go. Any way was reading this article and make me think of this forum haha. http://kotaku.com/tw...48588/936301088 "Phil Fish is the creator of a very popular and much loved video game called Fez. He's also the target of a lot of internet hatred. The latest hate burst has been so intense that he's calling it quits, canceling the second part of his original masterwork."

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Marcus Beer? Who could believe him? Maybe on favorite beer...

So go Fish go, ignore the beer (and likely belly).

[RockWolf]

Marcus is very down to earth with a lot of background in PR. If he didn't mean something he usually says sorry the next week on Invisible walls or Annoyed Gamer.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

I dunno about the true intentions from Marcus; but this situation illustrates the dangers of Social Media; and maybe the wiki has a handle on the evolving idea or not;

but for me this situation is both disheartening and rather creepy, as I get more details.

[Helmer]

Moved to OffTopic



Cheers.

[RockWolf]

Just watched it. It happens in the first 5 minutes. He meant every word of it.

Edited by RockWolf, 28 July 2013 - 02:15 AM.

[S3dition]

It also points out one of the biggest problems with indie development - you have 1 - 5 people working on a title that will cost $10 - $20, but everyone expects the same content as a $60 AAA title that took 1000 people and $100,000,000 to make. This is exacerbated by console developers like Microsoft and Sony who seem to have a seething hatred of indie developers.

Sadly, on the other end of the market, gamers are the worst part of the "me first" and "do for me" generation. Paying $20 does not entitle you to be a {Richard Cameron} or additional free content at the expense of the developer. The developer does not owe you a comment on a particular console. Certainly not some clown that makes a living by ridiculing people who have skills far beyond his level of comprehension.

Phil Fish is an average joe that made a video game. People decide to rage at him, and are suddenly horrified that he doesn't take it like a faceless corporation and shuts down development. He obviously takes things a bit more personally than most, but it's still unsurprising. Would you go into work every day if your boss did nothing but tell you how horrible you are and how everything you do will fail? I bet you'd be out in less than a week.

There should be a return mechanism for games that are genuinely broken, but that's generally the fault of the retail outlet. Software has had a no return policy for decades, even if the package wasn't even opened and before piracy was a point and click affair. Digital distribution doesn't have any excuse for this. Flipping one bit in a database locks you out of the game, so offering a 24 hour refund period isn't asking much. Especially if it forces those AAA companies to add more than 6 hours of content to their game.

So, badly broken games aside, gamers seem to be willing to burn down cities because a game doesn't end the way they think it should, or because a weapon is green instead of brown. Or heck, because the game was delayed for 24 hours. There isn't another industry on earth where the customers hate the product they're buying so much, they wish it hadn't come out, and then blame the developer for not making a sequel. It's bizarre.

I didn't think Fez was that great of an idea, and he did burn through an enormous amount of money for a 1/2 person operation. But, he still had the coconuts to try to pull it off. Still, when you're wondering why developers don't care about you, this is why. Caring about your audience is a dangerous thing in the game industry.

[Deathz Jester]

On the one hand, Beer could've worded what he said a little more eloquently and polite than "***** & moan". But on the other Fish needs to grow a spine.